Fish/animals | Household | Traditional Knowledge | Tools/Technology | Survival | Boats/ships | Erosion | Tides | Waves | Weather | Navigation | Migration
Eagles and other birds soar in front of cliffs. What air currents are they taking advantage of? What is the difference between a mechanical updraft and a thermal?
How do you think whales and dolphins breathe while they sleep while the sea is rough? Try snorkeling in a swimming pool when others are making big waves. What sleeping patterns do you think whales and dolphins must keep?
Commerical fishermen have a hard time with whales picking cod from their lines. Whales have learned the sounds of a fishing boat, and come to feed. Can you make some suggestions to discourage the whales from impacting fishermen without harming the whales?
What parts of the body do local hunters try to hit when hunting different animals? What systems are effected? What other systems are available for disabling an animal? Identify the animal’s system. Observe and document the damage done by the bullets. What physiological systems did the hunters try to disable in the past with traditional weapons?
What are the favorite baits for fishing or crabbing in your area? Do people fish through the ice? What bait do they use? What depths do they fish? Does the time of day matter?
Why do caribou often head into the wind? Why do dogs turn around before laying down outside?
Collect some of the liquid that is present in the knee and ankle joints of a caribou. What is the freezing point of that fluid? Test the friction of the joint with and without this fluid. Is the fluid soluble in water or oil? Why doesn’t it freeze in severe cold temperatures?
Do a food calendar for one or several local animals. What do they eat in each month or season? Birds are particularly susceptible to starvation, as they can’t store up much fat and still be able to fly. What do they eat in lean times? Do you think it is good for birds to feed at the local dump?
Do any local birds or animals store food by hiding it in secret places, or do they store it in the form of fat on their body? What secret places do they use? Do you think they steal from each other?
Most animals are prey for larger species. What adaptations do animals in your area use to avoid predators.
What are the best materials for casting animal tracks? What are the best conditions for casting tracks?
What are the favorite lures used by local trollers for different species of salmon?
Measure around the gills of a species of fish in your area. Divide this measurement by two. This will give you the optimum stretched mesh for that fish. Measure many fish of that species, average your findings, and compare that measurement with the nets used in your area.
Make a traditional halibut hook. Set it and a modern halibut hook close together. Does one work better than the other? Is there an optimum distance from the bottom of the ocean for the hooks to be set? What is the best halibut bait?
Nets of different colors are designed to be less visible in different waters. What color nets do people in your area use? Is there a color that is preferred? Under what conditions? A preferred mesh size? How many meshes deep are the nets? What is the difference between subsistence nets and the commercial nets?
Is there bycatch from subsistence activities in your region? Can you suggest ways to reduce bycatch? Can you suggest ways to use the bycatch? Is there bycatch in commercial efforts?
What is the history of commercial fishing in your area? Did over-fishing ever occur resulting in an endangered fish population? What measures were taken to bring the fish populations back? What new technology might endanger current fish populations? Can you make suggestions for reasonable ways to prevent over-fishing now and in the future based on your research? Talk with commercial fishermen and incorporate their responses to your study.
What is a red tide? Why does it effect bivalves? Why do they become deadly poison after a red tide? Some people say you can eat bivalves in all the months that contain an “R.” If this is true, why is it so? How many months does it take for bivalves to be cleansed from the effects of a red tide?
Why does pressure cooking and jarring preserve food? Are there optimum conditions and materials to use in jarring or preserving foods for winter storage?
Which boils at the highest temperatures: seal oil, Wesson oil, Crisco, moose or caribou tallow, olive oil, or other cooking oils? In making fry bread, which oils make the best bread: least greasy, right texture, color and flavor etc? (Seal oil seems to be the only animal fat that is liquid at room temperature. Is this true?)
How much good/bad cholesterol does seal oil have? How could you test this?
To this day coastal people use an atlatl for throwing a spear at seals so they won’t sink. Experiment with different lengths of atlatl, different lengths, weights and balance of spears. Experiment with different tips and feathers. Which is better for distance? Which is more accurate?
Old timers used to hunt birds with a sling (a bolo). Some had two weights, some three. Make one of these slings. What is the optimum weight and string length for: distance throwing, accuracy, & manageability
At the mouths of fresh water rivers, the ocean contains far less salt than in the open ocean. How might you measure salinity? Does specific gravity or conductivity give a more accurate test? How does the salinity or lack thereof effect the fish and animals that feed near your home? How far out into the ocean are the surrounding waters less saline because of freshwater runoff. Does this change from season to season?
What local technologies experience trouble from salt spray? What do local people do to protect those technologies? Can you devise better methods for protecting technologies, especially electronic gear from salt spray and oxidation.
What science is involved in storing fish in the hold of a ship that prevents decomposition and bruising? Can some species be held longer than others? Why? What are the temperatures and times allowable for storage of fish in the hold?
What chemical reactions are taking place in salmon that causes them to change color once they enter fresh water? What does this have to do with osmosis?
How do seagulls stay so clean when they eat in such dirty places?
What can you say about the types of places salmon spawn in local streams? Muddy bottom? Sandy? Gravel? Big rocks? Why is this so?
To what extent are local fish, birds and anmals in your area dependent on spawning and spawned out salmon for food? On fingerling salmon coming downstream? During what months do they come downstream? What predators do they encounter on the way up and downstream?
Mountains constantly erode, sending silt and minerals to the ocean. Other than the spawning salmon, can you find evidence of any other source by which minerals are carried from the sea back to the mountains? If not, how important do you think salmon are to replenishing minerals to birds, animals and fish that live in the upriver hills and mountains.
There must be good escapement for a good harvest of salmon in the future. How does ADF determine escapement and predict the run so commercial fishermen can have a good harvest without damaging future runs? What technologies do they use? What math models?
Silver, red, chum and king salmon runs always contain a mixture of ages. There will be a few 2 year old kings, a few more 3 year olds, many 4 year olds, many 5 year olds, and a few 6 year olds in every run. The overlap protects future runs from being wiped out by a bad year. What are the ages of fish in the run in your area? Is this typical, or does it show a change from year to year? Has the optimum ratio been determined?
Ocean currents carry food and oxygen. What are the scientific principles involved in the motion of currents? How can these principles be demonstrated so those who don’t understand can see them in action?
What are the scientific principles in the dissolving of necessary oxygen in the ocean?
Does sound travel better over smooth water or wavy water? Why do you think this is so?
What are some methods of converting salt water to potable fresh water?
Why do northern whalers take a black rock onto the ice in the spring in order to get drinking water?
Which oil has more calories by mass: seal oil, whale oil, walrus oil, or commercial stove oil? Make a simple calorimiter (with adult supervision) and test each one. Why do you think whale oil was a preferred oil in the1800’s and early 1900’s, quality or quantity?
Freshwater blackfish are important to coastal villages. One village is named after blackfish. How could it be that blackfish “come alive” after being solid frozen? What amazing features do they have that allow this? How and why do they make holes in the ice during winter?
What parasites afflict local animals? Is there any danger for people who eat these animals? Which body parts are more apt to have those parasites? How are the parasites destroyed to make the body part edible's?
Household
How does drying fish preserve it? Test different brine solutions for salmon strips. Which do people prefer?
What are the physiological effects of a steambath? Are they all good? How do modern soaps cleanse?
Some people breathe through a piece of wood, or small bundle of grass while in the steambath. Why do they do this? What science principles are involved? Why do people use brush to slap their skin in the bath?
Why do people’s glasses frost when they come in wintertime? Is there a way to prevent that from happening?
Different kinds of wood produce different kinds of heat in a steambath. Experiment with driftwood, dry spruce, wood from pallates and others. Which produces the best heat and why? What is the average temperature of the steambath? (Do not use green, pressure treated wood. It contains arsenic that has killed people in steam baths.) People who steambath often use the terms “sharp heat” and a “strong heat”. What do they mean? What different kinds of wood cause these different types of heat? What happens to the temperature when water is poured on the rocks? Why is this so?
Some rocks are acceptable for steambath and some are not? What are the qualities of each? What is their geological origin. Where do people in your village get the desirable rocks?
Some people say that cedar shavings work well to repel spiders from tents and homes. If this is so, which works better, red or yellow cedar?
Why do fish spoil @ 35° and meat is able to keep for a long time at that temperature?
What is “freezer burn” on foods in a freezer, and how can it be avoided? Experiment with different methods and wraps. What is sublimation and it’s relationship to this issue?
What is the difference between a decoction and a tincture in preparing local plants for medicinal use?
Traditional Knowledge
How can you tell time by the big dipper during the winter nights? What are the names of the constellations as identified by the elders in your location? How are the constellations similar/different from those of Western culture and astronomy?
What is the best way to ferment seal oil?
The construction of an ocean kayak is very personal. The shape of the kayak is according to the shape of the person, using body parts for measurement. Can you discover these measurements, and determine why the stability and maneuverability of a kayak is related to these body part measurements?
Apart from food, animal parts were used for many applications. Pick an animal in your area and find all the uses for the different parts. Make some of these traditional items. (Bones, hoofs, flippers for sacks, handles, clothing etc.
What animal parts were traditionally used for containers? Why were they good for those purposes?
Old timers hunted birds with an atlatl, a long stick with a notch cut in the end. A smooth flat stone was placed in the notch, and, with practice, was thrown with great accuracy. How much farther can a rock be thrown with one of these compared to a rock thrown by hand?
Hunters used to wear bentwood hats for several reasons. First they kept the elements off the hunter’s head. Second, they allowed the hunter to shield his eyes from the seal’s gaze, thereby avoiding spooking the seal. But thirdly, the bentwood had served as a funnel for sound. Make a bentwood hat and experiment with your ability to hear sounds with and without a bentwood hat. Make a similar hat out of fabric, paper and other materials. Experiment again with the ability to hear sounds. Why do you think hunters used a hat made of wood rather than grass, skin or fabric? Experiment with different pitches of sound, different amplitude of those sounds, and different conditions- either calm or with the wind blowing.
Traditional songs have rhythm. Do any of those rhythms follow natural rhythms like the human heart, the ocean waves, cries of birds etc?
What are the different methods of preparing grass for weaving baskets?
Why is rehydration of driftwood difficult? Does this explain why coastal drums were larger than interior drums?
In modern times, those methods of storing food have changed. What principles were involved in traditional food storage? What principles are involved in modern food storage? How are they different? Experiment with some of the older methods. Is the quality of food as good after time?
Across Alaska, Native people used a tea that goes by many names, Labrador tea, Hudson Bay tea, Eskimo tea etc. Prepare this tea. Do a taste test comparing this tea with commercial teas. Blend this tea with commercial tea. Which do people prefer? Elders? Middle age? Young people? Some people say it is a mild laxative. Is this true according to local knowedge?
It is much slower and more difficult to walk on the tundra than it is on a boardwalk. Why is this so? The same effect seems to be occuring when we walk on a soft winter trail. Is this so? What science principles are involved?
What oils work best in traditional lamps? Try traditional oils, bear, moose, seal, walrus etc. and modern oils, kerosene, stove oil, cooking oil, Crisco and motor oil, but do not try highly volatile liquids like gasoline or Blazo. What traditional wicks were used? Which is most effective and durable?
What processes of rendering did old timers used to extract fat from whales, whitefish entrails, seals etc? What are the qualities of these oils? At what temperatures are they solid/liquid? Are they high or low in good and bad cholesterol?
What clothing materials act as
the best windbreak? How do modern materials compare
with traditional
furs?
Tanning. What percentage of traditional tanning
softness comes from chemical breakdown of the fibers,
and
what percentage comes from
physical breakdown
of the fibers?
Collect caribou and moose hair. What is the difference between these hairs and seal or sea otter hair? People say that caribou hair is hollow. Is it? What is the difference between caribou hairs in different seasons? What is the difference between the outer hairs and the under hairs on a sea otter? Which body parts of a caribou have the toughest fur? The thickest fur? Why? Why were sea otter pelts so desirable in the days of heavy fur trading?
What type of stitches did the old timers use for water boots and skin boats such that they didn’t leak?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of traditional sinew used for thread compared with commercial threads and dental floss? Is it easier to work the sinew if it is held together by beeswax? What was traditionally used before beeswax? How was sinew thread made? How was it woven? How was it preserved? From what part of the local animal did it come?
What are the methods used to call local animals? How are the calls made? How do they work? What are the different calls that the animals respond to and why?
What is refraction and how does it effect spearing fish and animals under the surface of the water?
The weight and balance of a harpoon is critical. What happens if the weight is increased or decreased? Test on people of different sizes throwing the harpoon. How critical is the weight/length ratio of the harpoon to the thrower?
What animal parts were traditionally used for containers? Why were they good for those purposes?
How was cedar bark harvested, prepared and utilized in traditional culture? How does cedar bark compare with modern materials for the same purposes?
Why was the blanket toss devised? What are the simple physics of the blanket toss? What are the do’s and don’ts of the activity? Why do people kick their legs in the air? Do heavier or lighter people go higher? Is there an optimum number of people holding the blanket? What happens if they toss the individual too high or too fast? What importance does the “blanket” material have? What effect does the wind have on the individual being tossed? What happens if he/she doesn’t come down in the middle?
What is the difference in methods of preparing grass for weaving?What are the different traditional uses for grass?
What are the best natural dyes in your area? What are the traditional dyes? (Some might have been trade items.) Can these dyes withstand modern detergents in washing?
What are some traditional knots? What were they used for? How do these knots compare with knots and materials of today?
What did people use before plastic sled runners, and what were the implications? Compare traditional runners and modern technology for the coefficient of friction.
How did traditional methods of firemaking work? What materials were used for drill and tinder? What science principles were involved?
Being undetected is very important during winter hunting. Test the difference in the conductivity of sound in warm or cold air. Is hunting in cold or warm weather preferable when stalking an animal? What effect does wind have on the transmission of sound? What effect does snow on the tree branches have?
Mukluks vs. Bunny (VB) boots. They are so different, yet both are exceedingly effective in cold weather. Compare and contrast their effectiveness. How do these differences parallel traditional sod houses and modern houses with insulation and a vapor barrier?
Tools and Technology
Compare an ulu made of copper with one made of steel. Cut many fish with each. Sharpen each. Can you learn how to temper or soften steel? How did old timers cut steel without electric tools? Where did they get copper?
The fishing industry is constantly dependent on sharp tools that cut fish. There are four variables in producing a sharp knife or tool:
